a purpose, finally: a blog for the mediocre

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So, at about 10 months into this thing, I feel like I’m starting to really hit a groove. My ability to learn new algorithms has accelerated dramatically, my fluidity has really increased, and my average speeds continue to fall steadily (if not quickly). At the same time, this blog is starting to gain some traction. Having done absolutely nothing to market or cultivate it — no twitter account, no facebook account, not even sharing it with many friends and family — site visits have really increased lately, my videos have gotten more views, a few folks have subscribed, and I’ve even got a dialogue going (via my youtube inbox) with a few followers.

As I wrote in my inaugural post (and then reiterated in my second and third posts), this blog was never about showing off. I was never going to be as good as the very fast cubers — for want of time, ambition, youth, and (probably) ability. I knew that going in, and know it even more today. But I sensed early on that this would be a fun adventure. Of my many hobbies, this felt like the one most easily chronicled — the one with milestones that lent themselves to tracking, with small accomplishments susceptible of tip-giving, and with enough jargony in-crowd patois the strategic sprinkle of which would give the appearance of skill and achievement. I was correct on all fronts.

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PLL Madness

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Over the past three months, I’ve accomplished something I thought I never would: I’ve learned most of the PLL Perms for the last layer. Henceforth, Summer 2012 shall be known as:

Honestly, I never thought I could learn all of these. Continue reading →

V Perm — Booya

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UPDATE: This alg sucks. I long ago migrated to a totally different version, which is (odd as it may sound) my favorite alg.

After a brief hitaus from learning new algorithms, I posted over the weekend about learning Y Perm (and its two constituent OLLs). Feeling emboldened, I ventured into V Perm this week.  According to smart people, 1/18 of solves should see a V Perm.  Maybe something about my F2L technique puts a thumb on the V Perm scale, but I feel like I see it at least every 6 or 7 solves.

In any event, I learned it.  It was hard.  About as hard as I expected.  And I’m still slow at it.  But it works.  Here’s a quickie video showing me clunk through it:

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Y Perm (OLL 37 + OLL 33)

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Over the past month, my F2L speed has increased considerably — now averaging about 20-22 seconds…and dropping. My cross can get faster, but it’s not terrible at 6-ish seconds.

That leaves the last layer as the big x-factor. I know a handful of OLLs and PLLs. Still, I’m two-looking the orientation stage and then two-(and-sometimes-even-three-)looking the permutation stage.

I haven’t tried to pick up new algorithms for a while, mostly because I feel like I’ve already picked the low hanging fruit. (A glutton for punishment, I did recently learn Na Perm but then stalled at the tougher Nb.)

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28 seconds

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My first sub-30 solve: 28.28 seconds!  Pretty Lights’ “Finally Moving” played in the background.

Clearly, this is well outside of my ~40 second average. Even with the benefit of the 28-second solve, the session average was over 40 seconds. Everything just came together easily: I visualized the cross perfectly and performed it in six moves; my four F2L insertions went off without a hitch and with minimal hunting; and I knew the OLL (#23).

I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I got lucky with a PLL skip, which probably saved me 4 seconds. But, even if you throw in a 2-look PLL, I should have been below my previous personal best of 34 seconds (with best-recorded of 39 seconds).

I guess my recent F2L work is paying off!